A guy I talked to down at the radio station mentioned that small towns outside of L.A. and the immediate Bay Area are actually quite reasonable to live in. He mentioned the Modesto, CA is a beautiful little town, though he did not mention the cost of living. Also, he mentioned a little town called Atwater (or Atville?), which he said was about two hours north of San Francisco. He said he had a friend who rents a decent apartment for about $400 a month. He also said that the BART runs about 40 miles out of San Francisco, making a long commute a reasonable possibility, provided that I could find work in my area.